


Long Nights, Book One: The Beginning

by babyvagabond



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, its all ocs baby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-18 16:54:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17584679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babyvagabond/pseuds/babyvagabond
Summary: A prophecy from StarClan warns of bad things for half-Clan cats; and although no one knows what this unnamed danger is, many suspect the ShadowClan leader Ashstar. To avoid the danger, the pawful of half-clanners band together and leave the lake territories. What will become of these cats, and will the danger ever find them?here's a link to the nightfall/bluefeather playlist (not complete) https://open.spotify.com/user/ravenpawss/playlist/4wgW09AIWPGQ4NsFCDeYcO?si=ag5dRSFqSFuCzwH6dLLciQ





	1. Allegiances

ThunderClan

**Leader:** Mothstar - seal point tom with blue eyes

**Deputy:** Nightfall - black tom with white paws and tail tip, small white spots, and blue eyes

**Medicine Cat:** Sunstream - golden tabby molly with white paws and green eyes

 

**Warriors:**

Leafheart - ginger tabby molly with green eyes

Bouncetuft - cream tabby tom with amber eyes

Sorrelfur - dilute tortoiseshell molly with amber eyes

Mossfern - caliby molly with one green eye and one blue eye

      -Pumpkinpaw

Cloud-drop - white tom with blue eyes

Robinspring - reddish-brown molly with amber eyes

Honeystripe - cream tom with green eyes

Slatenose - dark gray smoke tom with amber eyes

Petalbelly - blue smoke molly with green eyes

 

**Apprentices:**

Pumpkinpaw - big, ginger molly with white paws and green eyes

 

**Queens:**

Clovershine - brown and white bicolor molly with green eyes

 

**Kits:**

Wildkit - black tom with green eyes (Clovershine/Honeystripe)

Dawnkit - tortoiseshell molly with green eyes (Clovershine/Honeystripe)

Breezekit - black tabby tom with green eyes (Clovershine/Honeystripe)

 

**Elders:**

Frostpelt - white molly with green eyes

 

ShadowClan

**Leader:** Ashstar - gray smoke tom with amber eyes

**Deputy:** Pinesong - russet molly with dark green eyes

**Medicine Cat:** Bluefeather - pretty, blue-gray molly with darker legs and blue eyes

 

**Warriors:**

Rockpelt - broad-shouldered dark gray tabby tom with amber eyes

Darkclaw - dark gray tabby tom with amber eyes

Lightningstrike - white tom with green eyes and a long, jagged scar down his side

Smokesnow - black smoke molly with amber eyes

      -Boulderpaw

Littlespots - small, chocolate rosetted tabby molly with green eyes

Pouncetail - gray bicolor tom with green eyes

      -Blossompaw

Toadshine - gray bengal tom with blue eyes

Lizardjaw - black silver tabby tom with green eyes

Dapplescar - tortoiseshell molly with amber eyes and a long scar down her face

 

**Apprentices:**

Boulderpaw - blue tabby tom with blue eyes

Blossompaw - blue molly with amber eyes

 

**Queens:**

Briarshine - pretty, blue-gray molly with darker legs and blue eyes

 

**Kits:**

Bramblekit - shorthaired black smoke tom with blue eyes (Briarshine/Ashstar)

Flintkit - longhaired black smoke tom with amber eyes (Briarshine/Ashstar)

 

**Elders:**

Mousesong - brown tom with a graying muzzle and amber eyes

Crow-whisper - black molly with a graying muzzle and green eyes

 

WindClan

**Leader:** Sheepstar - small, gray and white bicolor molly with blue eyes

**Deputy:** Tumblestorm - black molly with blue eyes and white paws

**Medicine Cat:** Whiskerheart - small, thin, lilac tom with yellow eyes 

 

**Warriors:**

Hopefire - pretty molly with a flame-colored pelt

Foxleap - small, red tabby tom with white paws and green eyes

Thistlescratch - brown tom with spiky fur and amber eyes

Ravenbelly - black tom with blue eyes

      -Sunnypaw

Birdstorm - pale gray-and-white molly with green eyes

Woollyhawk - blue tabby tom with amber eyes

Sweetlight - silver black tabby molly with green eyes

Willow-whisper - dark gray-and-white molly with blue eyes

      -Silverpaw

Milktooth - cream tom with yellow eyes

Hollowtail - dark gray tom with amber eyes

 

**Apprentices:**

Silverpaw - silver blue tabby molly with blue eyes

Sunnypaw - tortie smoke molly with blue eyes

 

**Queens:**

Dawnbreeze - silver cream tabby molly with orange eyes

 

**Kits:**

Daisykit - silver cream tabby tom with amber eyes (Dawnbreeze/Woollyhawk)

Sorrelkit - dilute torby molly with orange eyes (Dawnbreeze/Woollyhawk)

 

**Elders:**

Rabbitspeck - dappled, dilute tortoiseshell molly with amber eyes

Doveheart - gray tom with green eyes

  
  
  


RiverClan

**Leader:** Stormstar - gray tabby tom with blue eyes

**Deputy:** Whitebird - white molly with a gray tabby van pattern and blue eyes

**Medicine Cat:** Mistyshine - gray bicolor molly with green eyes

                            -Dovepaw

 

**Warriors:**

Shellmist - cream molly with blue eyes 

      -Echopaw

Windwhisker - brown tabby molly with yellow eyes

Nettlewhisper - small, black and white tom with green eyes

Gooseberry - gray tabby tom with blue eyes

Dustbelly - gray tabby molly with blue eyes

Ivyflower - white long-furred tom with green eyes 

Lilymask - white molly with green eyes

Nightmist - black molly with amber eyes

Froststorm - white tom with amber eyes

Whiteshine - black tom with white paws, and green eyes

      -Snailpaw

 

**Apprentices:**

Echopaw - gray tabby molly with blue eyes

Dovepaw - gray tabby molly with white, and amber eyes

Snailpaw - black and white tom with green eyes

 

**Queens:**

Silverheart - small, silver tabby molly with blue eyes

 

**Elders:**

Rivershadow - blue-gray tabby tom with blue eyes

  
  



	2. Chapter One

      Nightfall felt his stomach drop to his paws. The gathering was starting soon, and he and Bluefeather needed to get to their places quickly, but his paws were rooted to the forest floor.

      “What are you saying?” Nightfall asked softly, hoping his mate would tell him she was only joking.

      “StarClan wants half-clan cats to leave. Sunstream was very clear- any cat without pure blood is no longer safe at the lake,” Bluefeather mewed. “Our kits will be in danger if I stay.”

      “I don’t- I don’t want to lose you,” Nightfall mewled pitifully.

      “I don’t want to lose you either, but I have a duty to my kits.”

      “I’ll come with you!”

      Bluefeather smiled sadly and shook her head. “You have a duty to your Clan, Nightfall.”

      “And you have a duty to yours,” Nightfall reminded her.

      Bluefeather’s smile fell and with it, her gaze dropped to her paws. “Yes, I know,” she admitted, shuffling her paws in the grass. “But I will not be able to hide the truth of our kits. Briarshine doesn’t want to care for them… I am afraid of what Ashstar will do when he discovers the truth.”

      “What Ashstar- he wouldn’t hurt you, would he? Or- or the kits?” Nightfall fretted, the image of the large gray tom flashing in his mind. He had seen the gleam of those claws before and would hate to find himself beneath those large paws. The damage a cat like Ashstar could do to Bluefeather, or, StarClan forbid, a helpless kit… It made Nightfall sick to think about.

      “I don’t know,” Bluefeather admitted. “StarClan told Sunstream that half-Clan cats would be unsafe. I can’t know where that danger lies, only… Only that I can’t stay here. I can’t let our kits stay here.”

      “And I can’t let you go alone,” Nightfall insisted.

      “I won’t be alone. There are other cats! Pumpkinpaw is unclaimed; Silverheart was found at the border; Lightningstrike was once a rogue; Hopefire and Foxleap were born in ThunderClan. There will be plenty of capable warriors to protect me.”

      “It’s not about- Bluefeather, you can take care of yourself, I know that much,” Nightfall flicked his nicked ear- an injury Bluefeather had given him when they’d first met as apprentices. “I’m not- I’m not worried about you. I just don’t want to live without you, Bluefeather.”

      Bluefeather’s ears flattened back, tears welling up in her eyes. “I don’t want to live without you, either,” she admitted softly.

      “Then let me come. I will be a father to our kits like we’d always wanted.”

      “Nightfall,” Bluefeather meowed softly.

      “No, don’t think about it like this. Don’t think about ThunderClan or ShadowClan or StarClan. Think about our kits. What do you want for our kits?”

      “I…” Bluefeather looked away from Nightfall. “I want them to grow up knowing their father.”

      “Then let me come.”

      Bluefeather paused for a long moment, her whiskers twitching as she thought. Finally, after what must have been mere heartbeats but felt like several seasons to Nightfall, Bluefeather nodded.

      “Okay,” she mewed. “Okay.”

      “Okay?” Nightfall repeated excitedly, dancing on his paws.

      Bluefeather purred softly and let a small smile grace her muzzle. “Don’t make me change my mind, ya’ big furball.”

      Nightfall took the few pawsteps to close the distance between them and rubbed his muzzle against her cheek, purring. “You won’t regret this, Bluefeather, I promise.”

      “Of course not,” Bluefeather’s eyes fell shut and she allowed herself to enjoy Nightfall’s loving nuzzle for a few blissful moments before she stepped away and blinked at him. “It’s time we rejoin the Gathering.”

      Nightfall’s smile fell and he glanced back through the tall pines at the clearing. Right, the Gathering. The tom turned his ears, angling them forward towards the hidden crowd of cats. He could clearly hear Ashstar’s voice, meaning the ShadowClan leader had had to speak without his medicine cat sat at the roots beneath him. Nightfall swallowed thickly and hoped Mothstar had yet to speak.

      “Uh, yes,” Nightfall murmured, stepping past Bluefeather and leading her back to the crowd. The two cats slipped past the bushes and quickly separated, rushing to their spots beneath the tree from different angles. Nightfall thought briefly about how obvious it would be that they were together either way and that perhaps they should’ve returned to the Gathering together and announced their relationship to the whole forest.

      Nightfall shook the thought out of his head, ears folding back against his skull as he sat beside Tumblestorm. The lean, black molly shot him a look, and Nightfall flinched at the disapproving look in her blue eyes when he met her gaze.

      Ashstar finally quieted down and Nightfall heard the rustle of leaves as the large tom settled down on his branch. Nightfall wondered briefly if there was a branch thick enough on this tree to hold Ashstar without swaying beneath his weight. _The tom must have incredible balance_ , Nightfall thought.

      Nightfall risked a glance over his shoulder and felt a rush of relief when Mothstar stood. He hadn’t been too late.

      “ThunderClan is doing well. Two warriors have earned their names- Slatenose and Petalbelly,” Mothstar paused to allow the crowd to call the two young warriors’ names. Nightfall’s gaze flicked over the cats in the crowd until he found the two smoke siblings, heads held high and chests swollen with pride. He thought briefly that Slatenose looked especially like Ashstar, if not a little smaller, and quickly shook the thought away. Ashstar had always been especially loyal to ShadowClan, he would never…

      _Well_ , Nightfall thought, _a cat might see me as being especially loyal to ThunderClan…_

      “Clovershine gave birth to a litter of three,” Mothstar continued. There was a long pause, and Nightfall snuck another glance at his leader. Mothstar was staring down towards the medicine cats, and when Nightfall followed his gaze, caught Sunstream giving Mothstar a firm nod. Nightfall’s stomach twisted as he recalled the prophecy Sunstream had confessed to Bluefeather.

      “Sunstream has received a prophecy that she wishes to share with the other Clans,” Mothstar meowed. He moved to one side of the branch as Sunstream pulled herself up the tree.

      The pretty golden tabby nodded to Mothstar and took a long pause before speaking. “StarClan has reached out to me,” she began. “They’ve told me that half-Clan cats are in danger, and should leave the Clans if they want to stay safe.”

      Yowls rose from the crowd below, and Nightfall looked out at the cats gathered on the island. Many of them just seemed confused, as if they hadn’t been aware that there were any half-Clan cats around the lake. Several cats, however, looked very worried.

      “In danger of what?” called a voice that Nightfall recognized as Leafheart. Leafheart herself was not half-Clan, as far as Nightfall was aware, but had borne a daughter that remained unclaimed. Leafheart told the Clan that the father did not wish to be named, and while several cats had assumed Leafheart’s mate to have actually been a passing rogue, Nightfall thought he could recognize a certain WindClan tom in Pumpkinpaw. He had no room to judge Leafheart, however, and had not had any room since long before Pumpkinpaw’s birth.

      Nightfall looked back to Sunstream, whose gaze flicked, briefly, to the ShadowClan leader. Ashstar had clearly caught her eye because his tail lashed and his lips pulled back in a snarl.

      “There are no half-Clan cats in ShadowClan! And if there were, I wouldn’t do anything to them!” Ashstar hissed.

      “There will be!” a voice sneered from the crowd.

      Nightfall’s fur lifted along his spine and he stood quickly, glancing at Bluefeather, who was sat stock still with a look of horror on her face. They had agreed to leave, yes, but Nightfall had assumed they would go in the dead of night, not telling anyone where they’d be going.

      However, Briarshine had just ruined that plan. Bluefeather’s sister pushed through the crowd to stand beneath the tree, head held high and belly round with Ashstar’s kits. Her mate got to his paws, staring down at her with curious eyes. The tip of his tail twitched with what Nightfall could only interpret as anticipation.

      “What do you mean,” Ashstar called down to his mate.

      “A few nights ago, Bluefeather came to me and confessed she was pregnant with _half-Clan kits_ and begged me to pass them off as mine,” Briarshine mewed, a smug smile on her lips. Bluefeather flinched at her sister’s words, ears pressing back against her head. Nightfall wanted nothing more than to be at his mate’s side, but he knew that would only make the situation worse. Bluefeather had felt so guilty, revealing that her mate was the ThunderClan deputy, no less, would put more shame on her shoulders.

      Nightfall watched Ashstar as the tom’s expression fell from idle anticipation to absolutely nothing. His fur did not lift, nor did his tail flick as he spoke, “Then I assume Bluefeather will be leaving with her kits, meaning ShadowClan will not have a medicine cat. Many moons ago, we extended a paw to ThunderClan when their medicine cat died without an apprentice, and we allowed Sunstream to learn alongside Bluefeather. I can only assume ThunderClan will make the wise decision to extend a paw back to ShadowClan, now that we face the same issue.”

      Mothstar was quiet for a long moment before he stammered, “O-oh, yes, Sunstream will gladly train a ShadowClan apprentice in return for her training all those moons ago. Send a willing apprentice to ThunderClan and a fine young medicine cat will be returning home.”

      Sunstream looked to Mothstar, mouth open, clearly shocked that Mothstar was okay with how Ashstar was manipulating them and downplaying the loss of their medicine cat, especially since Bluefeather was his mate’s sister. Although, it was rather obvious that Briarshine would not be devastated by the loss.

      Ashstar flicked his tail and emotion returned to his face as he adopted a thinly-veiled smug smile. “What about the other leaders? Will you be losing cats?”

      Sheepstar and Stormstar exchanged a glance before both turning their gaze to Mothstar. Mothstar pawed absently at the bark of the branch he was sat upon. “Uh,” he began unsurely, “I suppose… Pumpkinpaw will be leaving the Clan, for her own safety. Unless her father would like to claim her now…”

      Nightfall looked out to the crowd, but no ThunderClan cat stepped forward. Many eyes were turned towards Leafheart, as her daughter had not attended this gathering and couldn’t speak for herself.

      Nightfall’s eyes widened as a familiar WindClan tom rose to his paws. “I’ll claim Pumpkinpaw. I’m half ThunderClan, meaning Pumpkinpaw is not half-Clan.”

      “Foxleap,” Leafheart began, taking a single step towards the tom before stopping herself. “You don’t need to do this.”’

      “I am half-Clan myself. Even if I wasn’t, I would do anything to help you and Pumpkinpaw.”

      Leafheart’s gaze softened and a soft smile graced her lips, just for a second, before the smile fell and she turned to Mothstar.

      “Pumpkinpaw has WindClan blood. For her safety…” Mothstar hesitated.

      “Her _safety_ ,” Leafheart spat, tail lashing angrily.

      “We can’t be sure what-”

      “We can’t be sure Sunstream is even telling the _truth_!” Leafheart sneered.

      Sunstream flinched and turned her gaze to her paws. Despite the initial round of gasps from the gathered cats, quiet murmurs of agreement followed.

      Bluefeather got to her paws and raised her head high, jaw squared as she announced, “Sunstream would not lie to us! She is my greatest friend and she knew how this prophecy would affect me. If she is saying we must leave for our safety, then we must leave.”

      Nightfall felt his heart swell with pride and he blinked lovingly at his mate. He just barely caught her gaze shifting to him for a moment and she blinked in return, a smile turning up the corners of her mouth.

      “Fine then,” Leafheart spat. “But don’t expect me to send my daughter away on her own. I’ll be leaving with her.”

      Mothstar nodded in understanding. “Of course,” he meowed. “I wouldn’t have expected anything else.”

      “I don’t believe announcing which warriors we’ll be losing is an efficient way to continue this Gathering,” Sheepstar meowed, standing on her branch.

      “I agree,” Mothstar meowed quickly, tail flicking nervously. “We should get on with this Gathering as normal.”

      “The cats who will be leaving their Clans are welcome to gather on the island tomorrow at sunhigh,” Stormstar announced good-naturedly. “I imagine now is a good time to make friends with your fellow half-Clanners.”

      Nightfall looked over to Bluefeather, trying to catch her eye. Would they be coming to this meeting? Nightfall was certain the two of them could make it on their own, raising their kits together as rogues, but Nightfall would be lying if he said he wouldn’t miss Clan life. However, Bluefeather would not meet his gaze. Whether it was intentional or not, Nightfall couldn’t tell, but either way, he could not catch his mate’s eye. Instead, she stared blankly out at the crowd in front of her, face void of readable emotion.

      _I wish I could comfort her,_ Nightfall thought wistfully, lashing his tail. Every Gathering was frustrating, sitting this close to his mate but unable to speak to her or show much of any emotion towards her, but this Gathering was really fighting tooth and claw for its spot at the top of the list. Nightfall had never found it quite this hard to keep his eyes off Bluefeather, or his mind from wandering to what she may be thinking.

 

      The rest of the Gathering passed without Nightfall’s notice- if anything interesting was said, Nightfall had no idea. All his attention was on Bluefeather. He watched her for the rest of the night, trying to communicate with her telepathically. He needed to meet with her one more time- after the Gathering ended but before their leaders left- to figure out what they’d do. She would not be able to leave in secret any longer- so should he make an effort to?

      Nightfall’s ears pricked as he heard branches creaking above him. The leaders began to climb down from their spots in the great oak tree, joining the gathered cats below for a while before leading their Clans home.

      Nightfall jumped down off his root, waving his tail to get Bluefeather’s attention. She finally, finally met his gaze, and he flicked his ears towards their usual meeting spot- a small section of sandy beach, hidden behind a rock and some fluffy bushes. She blinked slowly in affirmation before turning to speak to Sunstream and Mistyshine.

 _Saying goodbye, I bet_ , Nightfall thought, slipping under the bushes. He swished his tail back and forth as he stepped onto the beach, and, after a moment’s hesitation, took the last few pawsteps into the lake. The water was shallow here, just covering his paws, and gentle waves rippled across the water, buffeting his legs. He dug his claws into the wet sand, although it didn’t do much for traction, and let his eyes slip shut, face turned towards the full moon.

      Nightfall’s ears swiveled around when he heard leaves rustling behind him. He heard heavy pawsteps and turned, water splashing around his paws, blinking his eyes open. He smiled at Bluefeather and stepped out of the water, purring as he greeted her with a nuzzle.

      “Did you say goodbye?” He asked softly, stepping back to meet her eyes.

      Bluefeather nodded, tears welling in her eyes. She quickly looked away from her mate, blinking back the tears. She cleared her throat and mewed a quiet, “yes.”

      Nightfall let out a wordless, sympathetic mew and licked away a salty tear that had rolled down her cheek. “Do you want to leave with the others tomorrow?”

      Bluefeather sniffled softly and shrugged. “I don’t want to go back with ShadowClan,” she admitted.

      “Come to ThunderClan for the night, then,” Nightfall suggested. He lifted a paw and pressed it to Bluefeather’s cheek, turning her head to face him. “Mothstar will welcome you.”

      “What would I say? That I’m coming to stay with my mate?” Bluefeather spat, knocking Nightfall’s paw off of her face and looking away again, now wearing a sour expression.

      Nightfall flinched, stung by her tone. “Why not? We’ll be leaving at sunhigh anyways, why not tell the truth?”

      Bluefeather scoffed, “That’s easy for you to say! Mothstar will think I’ve seduced his deputy away!”

      “No, he won’t. I’ll tell him the truth. That we’ve been mates for moons, longer than I’ve been the deputy.”

      “Since apprenticeship,” Bluefeather corrected.

      “Yes,” Nightfall purred apologetically. “Since apprenticeship.”

      “I don’t know,” Bluefeather sighed, sour expression replaced with worry. “I don’t want your Clan to think any less of you…”

      “I don’t mind what they think.”

      “But I do,” Bluefeather insisted.

      “Well, why don’t you ask Sunstream if you can stay the night with her? She’ll understand you not wanting to go back, with how your sister is acting. A-and, besides, Sunstream… knows…” Nightfall’s mew fell to a whisper at the last hesitant word.

      “Sunstream knows?” Bluefeather repeated, turning quickly to look at him. “What do you mean, Sunstream knows. She knows what?”

      “Uh…” Nightfall purred nervously. “She, uh, she knows that the kits are mine.”

      “You told her?” Bluefeather mewed angrily.

      “No, no! I didn’t tell her, I didn’t tell anyone! She asked me if they were my kits and I didn’t know what to say! She took my hesitation as a yes!” Nightfall stepped closer to Bluefeather, wanting to soothe her but afraid to touch her and anger her more.

      The fur along her spine began to flatten, and Bluefeather let out a sigh. “It’s just like Sunstream to figure it out so easily.”

      “It’s not like we were subtle about our friendship as apprentices,” Nightfall purred softly. “She used to take messages back and forth for us.”

      “I remember,” Bluefeather purred.

      “So you’ll come?” Nightfall mewed softly, nuzzling Bluefeather’s cheek.

      “I might as well,” Bluefeather purred in response.

      “Go on, then,” Nightfall mewed softly, flicking his ears back towards the clearing. Bluefeather let out an affectionate sound and brushed her tail along Nightfall’s cheek as she passed him. Nightfall sat down in the cool, wet sand, watching the moon’s reflection on the water for a few, long moments before he stood and followed Bluefeather.

 

      Nightfall sat at the edge of the clearing, keeping an eye on his mate as she spoke quietly to Sunstream. He hadn’t caught a glimpse of Briarshine since she’d spoken earlier, but he could see the tufted tips of Ashstar’s ears over the heads of the other gathered warriors.

      “Keeping an eye on Ashstar?”

      Nightfall snorted and flicked his ears, looking over as Mothstar sat beside him. “Why would I be doing that?”

      Mothstar shrugged, settling in beside his friend and deputy, tail wrapping around his paws as he wiggled into a comfortable loaf. “No reason. How are you feeling about what happened at the Gathering?”

      Nightfall’s whiskers twitched and his gaze flickered momentarily to the sky before switching back to Mothstar. “The sky is clear,” Nightfall mewed.

      “I don’t believe I asked how StarClan was feeling.”

      “I’m not feeling any certain way about it,” Nightfall lied easily.

      “You’re not feeling any certain way about losing a good warrior and the Clan’s only apprentice?”

      Nightfall internally swore at himself- he’d been so caught up trying to keep his connection to Bluefeather a secret, he’d forgotten the news would affect the rest of ThunderClan, too. “Ah, I- I’m trying not to think about it. There’s nothing to be done, isn’t there?”

      Mothstar didn’t seem to take notice of Nightfall’s smooth recovery, nodding along as the tom spoke. “It’ll only be six moons before Clovershine is back in the warriors' den and her kits will be apprentices. ThunderClan will not suffer much from this loss.”

      “Yes, exactly,” Nightfall mewed quickly.

      “Although, I’m not so excited about having a ShadowClan apprentice in the camp,” Mothstar admitted, glancing over at Ashstar. “Do you think he’ll send one of his own kits?”

      “He wouldn’t go six moons without a medicine cat. I imagine he’ll have Blossompaw or Boulderpaw become the medicine cat apprentice.”

      “I feel sorry for the ‘paw that has to give up their life as a warrior,” Mothstar sighed. “Imagine if you or I’d been sent to ShadowClan instead of Sunstream.”

 _That wouldn’t have been so terrible for me_ , thought Nightfall. Instead, he said, “Who would you have chosen as deputy, if I was medicine cat?”

      “Your sister,” Mothstar answered with no hesitation as if he didn’t even need to think about it.

      “Moonsong?” Nightfall looked to his friend with wide eyes.

      “I was just as close with her as I am with you,” Mothstar mewed, looking away from Nightfall.

      “I don’t think making your mate your deputy is allowed,” Nightfall teased, although his heart wasn’t quite in it.

      “We weren’t mates.”

      “You would’ve been if she hadn’t…” Nightfall couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.

      “I miss her,” Mothstar admitted, hoarse.

      “Me too.”

      The two toms sat in silence for a long time, neither daring to look at the other. After a long while, Nightfall’s ears pricked at the sound of approaching pawsteps, and he looked up from his paws to see Sunstream approaching, Bluefeather a few pawsteps behind her. Nightfall shook the twisting thoughts and memories out of his head and nudged Mothstar, getting his attention and angling his head towards the two approaching mollies.

      “How can I help you?” Mothstar asked as Sunstream came to a stop in front of him.

      Sunstream shuffled her paws and glanced back over her shoulder at her friend before her gaze dropped to her paws. “B-Bluefeather doesn’t feel safe going back to ShadowClan, a-and the half-Clanners aren’t leaving until sunhigh…”

      “Yes?” Mothstar prompted.

      “Could… Bluefeather come back with us? Just for the night! She’ll leave tomorrow with Leafheart and Pumpkinpaw!” Sunstream added quickly.

      “I don’t see why not,” Mothstar purred. Nightfall felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

      Sunstream let out an audible sigh of relief and looked back to Bluefeather, who had an obviously forced smile on her face. The sight made Nightfall frown- what was Bluefeather worried about now? Mothstar had said she could stay, and they hadn’t given away their secret.

      “I think it’s time we head home, now,” Mothstar mewed as he got to his paws. Nightfall nodded and quickly followed, stopping to let Mothstar and Sunstream step ahead of him so he could hang back with Bluefeather. Mothstar called out to their Clanmates and started heading towards the tree bridge, but Nightfall was barely paying attention.

      “What’s wrong?” He asked Bluefeather softly.

      “Nothing, I’m just… Worried about how you’ll get out of camp tomorrow. Maybe we should leave tonight and stay on the island until the others join us at sunhigh.” Bluefeather mewed back, just as soft.

      “I-if that’s what you want, yeah, we can do that.” Nightfall mewed, falling behind as they approached the tree bridge. Bluefeather nodded decisively before leaping up onto the fallen tree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i havent finished writing chapter two yet but its almost done!! i cant guarantee when i'll post it but hopefully it won't be too long haha


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